Many social interventions have been developed with the hopes of reducing and preventing social isolation among older people (e.g., recreation, arts-based programs and social prescription). Friendly visiting programs, also known as befriending schemes, have been a mainstay in this area for decades and are largely thought to be effective at reconnecting older people (≥ 60 years of age) experiencing isolation. Research and evaluations have yet to determine, however, how and why these programs may be most successful, and under what conditions. This article presents the findings of a realist synthesis aimed at identifying the critical mechanisms and contextual factors that lead to successful outcomes in friendly visiting programs. Seven studies are synthesized to inform a friendly visiting program theory accounting for key mechanisms (e.g., provision of informal support) and underlying contexts (e.g., training of volunteers) that can be used to inform future programs. Recommendations for future research are also presented.

The Variables and Slow Transients Survey (VAST) on the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) is designed to detect highly variable and transient radio sources on timescales from 5 s to $\sim\!5$ yr. In this paper, we present the survey description, observation strategy and initial results from the VAST Phase I Pilot Survey. This pilot survey consists of $\sim\!162$ h of observations conducted at a central frequency of 888 MHz between 2019 August and 2020 August, with a typical rms sensitivity of $0.24\ \mathrm{mJy\ beam}^{-1}$ and angular resolution of $12-20$ arcseconds. There are 113 fields, each of which was observed for 12 min integration time, with between 5 and 13 repeats, with cadences between 1 day and 8 months. The total area of the pilot survey footprint is 5 131 square degrees, covering six distinct regions of the sky. An initial search of two of these regions, totalling 1 646 square degrees, revealed 28 highly variable and/or transient sources. Seven of these are known pulsars, including the millisecond pulsar J2039–5617. Another seven are stars, four of which have no previously reported radio detection (SCR J0533–4257, LEHPM 2-783, UCAC3 89–412162 and 2MASS J22414436–6119311). Of the remaining 14 sources, two are active galactic nuclei, six are associated with galaxies and the other six have no multi-wavelength counterparts and are yet to be identified.

Cognitive theories of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) posit that cognitive and behavioural factors maintain the disorder. This study examined whether avoidance and safety behaviours mediated the relationship between cognitive factors and GAD symptoms. We also examined the reverse mediation model; that is, whether cognitive factors mediated the relationship between maladaptive behaviours and GAD symptoms. Undergraduate psychology students (N = 125 and N = 292) completed the Worry Behaviours Inventory (a recently developed measure of maladaptive behaviours associated with GAD), in addition to measures of intolerance of uncertainty, cognitive avoidance, metacognitive beliefs, and symptoms of GAD and depression. Analyses supported the reliability and validity of the WBI. We consistently found that engagement in maladaptive behaviours significantly mediated the relationship between cognitive factors and symptoms of GAD. The reverse mediation model was also supported. Our results are consistent with the contention that cognitive and behavioural factors contribute to GAD symptom severity.

Invasive rodents detrimentally affect native bird species on many islands worldwide, and rodent eradication is a useful tool to safeguard endemic and threatened species. However, especially on tropical islands, rodent eradications can fail for various reasons, and it is unclear whether the temporary reduction of a rodent population during an unsuccessful eradication operation has beneficial effects on native birds. Here we examine the response of four endemic land bird species on subtropical Henderson Island in the Pitcairn Island Group, South Pacific Ocean, following an unsuccessful rodent eradication in 2011. We conducted point counts at 25 sampling locations in 14 survey periods between 2011 and 2015, and modelled the abundance trends of all species using binomial mixture models accounting for observer and environmental variation in detection probability. Henderson Reed Warbler Acrocephalus taiti more than doubled in abundance (2015 population estimate: 7,194-28,776), and Henderson Fruit Dove Ptilinopus insularis increased slightly between 2011 and 2015 (2015 population estimate: 4,476–10,072), while we detected no change in abundance of the Henderson Lorikeet Vini stepheni (2015 population estimate: 554–3014). Henderson Crake Zapornia atra increased to pre-eradication levels following anticipated mortality during the operation (2015 population estimate: 4,960–20,783). A temporary reduction of rat predation pressure and rat competition for fruit may have benefitted the reed warbler and the fruit dove, respectively. However, a long drought may have naturally suppressed bird populations prior to the rat eradication operation in 2011, potentially confounding the effects of temporary rat reduction and natural recovery. We therefore cannot unequivocally ascribe the population recovery to the temporary reduction of the rat population. We encourage robust monitoring of island biodiversity both before and after any management operation to better understand responses of endemic species to failed or successful operations.

Background: Cognitive models of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) suggest that maladaptive behaviours may contribute to the maintenance of the disorder; however, little research has concentrated on identifying and measuring these behaviours. To address this gap, the Worry Behaviors Inventory (WBI) was developed and has been evaluated within a classical test theory (CTT) approach. Aims: As CTT is limited in several important respects, this study examined the psychometric properties of the WBI using an Item Response Theory approach. Method: A large sample of adults commencing treatment for their symptoms of GAD (n = 537) completed the WBI in addition to measures of GAD and depression symptom severity. Results: Patients with a probable diagnosis of GAD typically engaged in four or five maladaptive behaviours most or all of the time in an attempt to prevent, control or avoid worrying about everyday concerns. The two-factor structure of the WBI was confirmed, and the WBI scales demonstrated good reliability across a broad range of the respective scales. Together with previous findings, our results suggested that hypervigilance and checking behaviours, as well as avoidance of saying or doing things that are worrisome, were the most relevant maladaptive behaviours associated with GAD, and discriminated well between adults with low, moderate and high degrees of the respective WBI scales. Conclusions: Our results support the importance of maladaptive behaviours to GAD and the utility of the WBI to index these behaviours. Ramifications for the classification, theoretical conceptualization and treatment of GAD are discussed.

Background: The use of maladaptive behaviors by individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is theoretically important and clinically meaningful. However, little is known about the specificity of avoidant behaviors to GAD and how these behaviors can be reliably assessed. Aims: This study replicated and extended the psychometric evaluation of the Worry Behaviors Inventory (WBI), a brief self-report measure of avoidant behaviors associated with GAD. Method: The WBI was administered to a hospital-based sample of adults seeking treatment for symptoms of anxiety and/or depression (n = 639) and to a community sample (n = 55). Participants completed measures of symptom severity (GAD, depression, panic disorder, health anxiety, and personality disorder), and measures of checking, reassurance-seeking and behavioral inhibition. Analyses evaluated the factor structure, convergent, divergent, incremental, and discriminant validity, as well the temporal stability and treatment sensitivity of the WBI. Results: The two-factor structure found in the preliminary psychometric evaluation of the WBI was replicated. The WBI was sensitive to changes across treatment and correlated well with measures of GAD symptom severity and maladaptive behaviors. The WBI was more strongly related to GAD symptom severity than other disorders. The WBI discriminated between clinical and community samples. Conclusions: The WBI provides clinicians and researchers with a brief, clinically meaningful index of problematic behaviors that may guide treatment decisions and contribute to our understanding of maintaining factors in GAD.

Building on the pioneering research of a small number of gerontologists, this paper explores the rarely trodden common ground between the academic domains of social gerontology and modern history. Through empirical research it illustrates the complex networking that exists through space and time in the relational making of people and places. Indeed, the study focuses specifically on the lived reality and ongoing significance of life on the small-town British coastal homefront during World War II. Seventeen interviews with older residents of Teignmouth, Devon, United Kingdom, investigate two points in their lives: the ‘then’ (their historical experiences during this period) and the ‘then and now’ (how they continue to reverberate). In particular, their stories illustrate the relationalities that make each of these points. The first involves residents’ unique interactions during the war with structures and technologies (such as rules, bombs and barriers) and other people (such as soldiers and outsiders) which themselves were connected to wider historical, social, political and military networks. The second involves residents’ perceptions of their own and their town's wartime histories, how this gels or conflicts with public awareness, and how this history connects to their current lives. The paper closes with some thoughts on bringing together the past, present and older people in the same scholarship.

We present results from a Mopra 7 mm-wavelength survey that targeted the dense gas-tracing CS(1-0) transition towards the young γ-ray-bright supernova remnant, RX J1713.7–3946 (SNR G 347.3−0.5). In a hadronic γ-ray emission scenario, where cosmic ray (CR) protons interact with gas to produce the observed γ-ray emission, the mass of potential CR target material is an important factor. We summarise newly discovered dense gas components, towards Cores G and L, and Clumps N1, N2, N3, and T1, which have masses of 1 – 104 M⊙. We argue that these components are not likely to contribute significantly to γ-ray emission in a hadronic γ-ray emission scenario. This would be the case if RX J1713.7–3946 were at either the currently favoured distance of ~1 kpc or an alternate distance (as suggested in some previous studies) of ~6 kpc.

This survey also targeted the shock-tracing SiO molecule. Although no SiO emission corresponding to the RX J1713.7–3946 shock was observed, vibrationally excited SiO(1-0) maser emission was discovered towards what may be an evolved star. Observations taken 1 yr apart confirmed a transient nature, since the intensity, line-width, and central velocity of SiO(J = 1-0,v = 1,2) emission varied significantly.

This paper describes how space and place have been understood in gerontology as phenomenon that are both physical and social in character, yet are relatively bounded and static. The argument is posed as to how, following recent developments in human geography, a relational approach might be adopted. Involving a twist in current thinking, this would instead understand space and place each as highly permeable, fluid and networked at multiple scales. Moreover, it is proposed that the concept of ‘affect’ might also be insightful, recognising space and place as being relationally configured and performed, possessing a somatically registered energy, intensity and momentum that precedes deep cognition. Three vignettes illustrate the relationalities and affects in the lives and circumstances of older people, and how focusing more explicitly on them would allow for a richer understanding of where and how they live their lives. The paper closes with some thoughts on future theoretical, methodological and disciplinary considerations.

The aim of this study was to investigate familial influences and their dependence on sex for panic disorder and/or agoraphobia, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder and major depression. Data from Australian (N = 2287) and Dutch (N = 1185) twins and siblings who were selected for a linkage study and participated in clinical interviews to obtain lifetime Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV) diagnoses were used. In a liability model, tetrachoric correlations were estimated in sibling pairs and sex differences between sibling correlations were tested. For each diagnosis, the sibling correlations could be constrained to be equal across the Australian and Dutch samples. With the exception of panic disorder and/or agoraphobia, all sibling correlations were the same for brother, sister and opposite-sex sibling pairs and were around .20. For panic disorder and/or agoraphobia, the correlation was .23 in brother and sister pairs, but absent in opposite-sex sibling pairs. From these results it can be concluded that upper heritability estimates, based on twice the correlations in the sibling pairs, vary between 36% (major depression) and 50% (social phobia). Furthermore, different genetic risk factors appear to contribute to the vulnerability for panic disorder and/or agoraphobia in men and women. No other sex differences were found.

Multivariate modelling of anxiety and depression data in twins has suggested that the two phenotypes are largely underpinned by one genetic factor, while other studies have indicated a relationship between these disorders and the neuroticism personality trait. As part of a study to identify quantitative trait loci for anxiety and depression, questionnaire responses and interviews of 15 027 Australian twins and 11 389 of their family members conducted during the past 20 years were reviewed to identify individuals with neuroticism, anxiety and depression scores in the upper or lower deciles of the population. This information was then used to identify extreme discordant and concordant (EDAC) sib pairs. 1373 high-scoring and 1571 low-scoring subjects (2357 sib pairs) were selected for participation, and extremely high participation rates were achieved, with over 90% of contactable prospective participants completing the interview phase, and over 90% of these providing blood or buccal samples. Participation bias arising from the nature of the selection variables was minimal, with only a small difference between rates of interview participation among prospective participants with high and low selection scores (89.4% vs 91.6%). The interview permitted the diagnosis of depression and several anxiety disorders (OCD, agoraphobia, panic disorder, generalised anxiety disorder) in this sample according to DSM-IV criteria. The methodology for selection of prospective subjects was demonstrated to be extremely successful, with highly significant differences in depression and anxiety disorder prevalence rates between individuals in the two selection groups. The success of this EDAC sampling scheme will enhance the power for QTL linkage and association analysis in this sample. Twin Research (2000) 3, 299–309.

Background: Old age respondents may differ systemically in their responses to measures of psychological distress over and above their actual latent distress levels when compared to younger respondents. The current study aimed to investigate the potential for age-related bias(es) in the Kessler 6 Psychological Distress Scale (K6) items.

Methods: Data from the 2007 Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing were analyzed using Item Response Theory to detect the presence of item bias in each of the K6 items. The potential for item bias was assessed by systematically comparing respondents classed as young (16–34 years), middle aged (35–64 years), and old aged (65–85 years). The significance and magnitude of the item bias between the age groups was assessed using the log-likelihood ratio method of differential item functioning.

Results: After statistical adjustment, there were no biases of significant magnitude influencing the endorsement of K6 items between young and middle-aged respondents or between middle-aged and old age respondents. There was a bias of significant magnitude present in the endorsement of the K6 item addressing levels of fatigue between young and old age respondents.

Conclusions: Despite the identification of significant item bias in the endorsement of K6 items between the age groups, the magnitude and influence of the bias on total K6 scores is likely to have little influence on the overall interpretation of group data when comparing psychological distress across the lifespan. Researchers should be cautious, however, when examining individual levels of fatigue related to psychological distress in older individuals.

While the use of appropriate technologies, an opposition to medical elitism, and achieving health for social development have been repeatedly cited as ideas important to both the Declaration of Alma-Ata and primary health care more generally, we believe that key geographic concepts are equally as foundational. More specifically, notions of ‘community’, ‘equity’, and ‘access’ are consistent definitional elements of primary health care across systems; each of these possesses inherently geographic components and, thus, to truly effectuate the most relevant primary health care research and practice, we must think geographically about them. Our objective in this short paper is to introduce readers to the geographic nature of primary health care and to encourage researchers and clinicians alike to engage with applying a ‘geographic lens’ to relevant enquiry and practice. To achieve this, we overview the geographic nature of community, equity, and access as these concepts relate to primary health care and also outline the fundamental geographic concepts of scale, space, and place.

During recent years, private sector complementary medicine has grown as a significant provider of health care in the UK, and according to many current definitions, this provision may be classified as primary health care. In the context of a relative paucity of dedicated research investigations, and through a combined questionnaire (n = 426) and interview survey (n = 49), this paper provides some base-line evidence on the national sector, considers the previous employment of private therapists, their reasons for practicing, the range of modalities practiced and the positives they gain from this form of caring and business ownership. Although some younger therapists had moved straight from their education into private practice, the most common scenario was for middle-aged persons to enter the sector directly from skilled professional jobs and hence had radically changed their careers. Many were formerly employed in caring-related professions such as nursing, social work and teaching. Often therapists had been disillusioned with particular aspects of their former jobs. However, more frequently, they were simply attracted by the therapies themselves, the conceptual paradigms which underpin them and to the different experiences of business ownership and caring practices. Little is known about private complementary medicine, and it is argued that dedicated studies could build the initial evidence presented here, particularly within the rubric of primary health care research.

Loneliness and isolation can be a major cause of unhappiness and can contribute towards depression and mental illness in older age. These associations are recognised by academics, policy makers and older people's representative organisations alike in several countries, and many corrective ad hoc and country-specific initiatives have been supported. This study examines the opinions of the users of a local home-visiting befriending service in the United Kingdom. The befrienders are volunteers, and most users were introduced to the service by female relatives or health service professionals. Positive opinions of the service predominated, and users placed a high value on the reliability of their befrienders. The service provided the users with an opportunity to develop a new bond, and many reported friendly reciprocity, which they recognised as an ingredient of ‘real’ friendship. These friendships sometimes developed beyond the agreed rules and remits of the ‘formal’ service, and incorporated various forms of supplementary assistance and social activities. The paper demonstrates the value of befriending services and examines carefully the aspects of their implementation that required exceptional sensitivity.